Once New York City fully re-emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, the city plans to celebrate health care workers with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced during his Tuesday news conference with the press.
It is unclear when exactly such a parade would occur. City (and state) schools and non-essential businesses are closed through at least May 15, and the city on Monday canceled numerous June events, including New York City’s Pride Parade, which was set to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and the Puerto Rican Day Parade, in an effort to prevent the spread of the virus.
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Still, de Blasio said a parade would be a great way to honor the essential workers who are still going to work through the pandemic.
"I want to guarantee you one thing: that when that day comes that we can restart the vibrant, beautiful life of this city again, the first thing we will do is we will have a ticker-tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes for our health care workers and our first responders," de Blasio said. "We will honor those who saved us."
Doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, EMTs and MTA workers are among the essential workers who are reporting to work every day. There has also been an influx of medical professionals from the Armed Forces, and thousands of retired health professionals — from nurses to doctors to anesthesiologists — have volunteered their services in the city’s time of need.
De Blasio expects the celebration to be a moment of "rebirth" for the city.
"This one will speak to what kind of heroism that is intrinsic to who we are as New Yorkers, to our values, to our compassion, to our strength, our resiliency," de Blasio said. "This parade will mark the beginning of our Renaissance.”
When asked about the potential parade on Tuesday, President Trump seemed open to the idea.
"Frankly, that sounds like a good idea to me, when it's all over," Trump said.
This came after Trump met with Governor Cuomo in the Oval Office to discuss the ways in which New York can increase testing for the coronavirus in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead.